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Ukraine becomes a wedge issue in Ottawa: Tim Harper

Justin Trudeau created his own problem, but Conservative zeal for attacks on the Liberal leader obscured the larger international issue of the crisis in Ukraine.

Justin Trudeau's comment on Radio-Canada about Ukraine really was inexcusable from a man who purports to be a prime minister and represent the country on the international stage. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA—Because of the size of the Ukrainian diaspora in this country and the votes it represents, the ongoing drama in that country was always going to garner a disproportionate amount of political attention in this city.

It now demands the quick attention of every western nation, regardless of any ancestral ties, because the global repercussions of a split Ukraine are just too grave.

Here’s hoping a trip to Kyiv by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird returns this country to its place as a nation with a role to play in Ukraine, because over the past two days a nation with an uncertain future has become a grimy sideshow here.

It has become another wedge issue, one to be played for votes like any other issue in this country, and the last two days have diminished Canada on the world stage.

Conservatives pounced for base political gain and, while they are correct to call out the Liberal leader, this domestic circus has obscured a role this country is struggling to play.

This is not to suggest there haven’t been moments when we have looked like an engaged G7 country, not a tiny town council.

For the third time, MPs will debate the situation in Ukraine Wednesday and the previous two debates have shown our elected representatives able to down their partisan swords to speak intelligently and passionately on a dangerous, fluid situation.

Baird has largely stayed above the partisan fray and has dealt with like-minded allies hoping to nurse a divided nation toward a stable democracy, and Wednesday he heads to Kyiv, where a cash-starved transitional leadership is trying to form an interim government.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has couched his statements carefully, not inflaming, announcing Baird’s mission by saying it was important for friends of Ukraine to show support, quickly, on the ground.

Harper also spoke to British Prime Minister David Cameron about the key question of rapid financial support when a government is formed.

Opposition leader Tom Mulcair did what opposition leaders occasionally should do, asking his first question after a week-long Commons break to elicit an update on the Canadian response, not to score political points.

But Trudeau took two days to apologize for a flippant comment he actually made last Thursday, but which aired Sunday on Radio-Canada’s Tout le monde en parle, linking Vladimir Putin’s anger over an Olympic hockey loss to a possible “involvement of the Russian government in Ukraine.’’

It really was an inexcusable comment from a man who purports to be a prime minister and represent the country on the international stage.

Never mind that he allowed his loyal lieutenant, Marc Garneau to spend Monday twisting in the wind, denying there was a need for an apology.

When it became clear that the furor from this comment would not go away on its own, Trudeau apologized to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, then Ukrainian Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, before signing a book of condolence for victims of the uprising at the embassy, then doing a mea culpa for the media later in the afternoon.

Conservatives, on the other hand, were so eager to score points against Trudeau, they lost all perspective.

James Bezan, whose work on the Canada-Ukraine file has won him that country’s “Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise,” offered his “thoughts and prayers” to the people of Ukraine, then in the next sentence reminded everyone of his deep disappointment over Trudeau’s “flippant and ignorant comments” on the situation.

Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, in his zeal to point out Trudeau’s love of Communist dictatorships, didn’t seem sure if we were actually threatening Russia with sanctions or not, and one after another, Conservative MPs popped up in the Commons to use the deaths in Ukraine to score points against Trudeau.

Paul Grod of the Canadian Ukrainian Congress accepted Trudeau’s apology, but he also told Trudeau that the situation there cannot become a partisan issue.

And he lavished praise on the Conservative government.

If timing is everything in politics, the Conservatives know when to strike. It may be important to deal quickly with the situation in Kyiv, but it was no coincidence Harper invited cameras into his office in the Centre Block to announce the delegation to Ukraine as the Liberal leader was at the microphone one floor below explaining why he misread the situation and injected levity where none was warranted.

Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper@thestar.ca Twitter:@nutgraf1

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